Toll Roads

I hadn't check my emails for a few days. Oh, so many emails, who can be bothered wading through that lot. (I currently have 750 unread emails)

Anyway, my toll statement came up and it said, A Friendly Reminder...

Of what, I thought?

So, I open the email and it says they it was a follow up reminder that my account was overdrawn?

Overdrawn, I thought? Can't be.

I hadn't topped up my toll account since 2020, I was kind of proud of it. I don't use toll roads, just out of principal. The govt should fund roads out of our taxes, and roads should be free for everyone. I believe that wholeheartedly.

I knew that I only had a few dollars of balance on my account. 

I knew that I did use a toll road at the beginning of the year, when Sam directed me to the video conversion woman's house. I should have looked at the directions first, before we left, because, as you know, Sam doesn't drive and consequently, he isn't so good with directions without GPS telling him.

Anyway, it was only one toll reader, I was pretty sure at the time I had enough balance to cover it. But, you know, maybe I had misjudged and got it wrong.

20 something dollars overdrawn? What, I think? I wonder if this is a scam email? Well, it could be?

I go to my account. I would always go to my account. I would never work off an unsolicited email.

My account says -$21.80, or something like that. Last day, or so in Feb and 01st March. I look up my journal which has times, more often than not, and, um, ashamedly, er, predictably, I was at home on the couch.

There is a number, so I call it.

The AI voice assistant can't work out what my enquiry is, we try multiple times and then it puts me through to a person. 

The person doesn't have much more success.

"There is an entry on my account, actually two that weren't me."

"Weren't you, I am sorry?"

"There are two entries on my account when somebody else must have been driving."

"Somebody else was driving your car."

"No, I have been charged... oh, what? Somebody else was driving my car?" I leant my car to David. He drove it to Yea. The charge was on Eastlink. "Oh, sorry, I have just worked it out. Somebody else was driving my car."

"Somebody else was driving you car," he repeated.

"Yes. Sorry to bother you."

"It is okay?"

"Yes, it is okay."

David ran up $22 of tolls in my car, actually a bit more than that as I did have some kind of balance, I reckon it was about $5. At least he filled the car back up with petrol. My car is always full of petrol, as I don't drive all that much so it is easy to keep it full.

Actually, I have two cars, neither of which I drive very much, both of which are usually full of petrol.

I always go and fill them up when petrol is cheap

I don't care about the tolls David ran up, as such, I care about any tolls someone is paying to a toll company for something that should be free for everyone.

My message to govt is, stop creating a two tier society, in this case people who can afford tolls, and people who can't.

I think it is govt job to make society more equal, not less equal.

Oh yes, but your taxes will go up, Christian. I don't mind paying more tax for a fairer society. The people who can afford it pay a bit more, and the people who can't pay a bit less.

I hate those people who say, You should see how much tax I pay.

My response is always, Well you must earn a lot of money then.